Charlotte Guillard

Charlotte Guillard was an early printer who directed the Soleil d'Or printing house in Paris. Annie Parent described her as a "notability of the Rue Saint-Jacques", the street in the Latin Quarter where the shop was located. Twice married and twice widowed, Guillard operated her own publishing imprint for theological books during her two periods of widowhood, that is to say from 1519 to 1520, and 1537 to 1557. While she was not the first woman printer, succeeding both Anna Rugerin of Augsburg (1484) and Anna Fabri of Stockholm (1496), she was the first woman printer with a significantly known career.

Biography

Early life

Guillard was very likely born in the late 1480s in Saint-Calais, France. Her name is sometime spelled Guillart and in Latin books as Carola Guillard. Living in the province of Maine in France, her parents were Jacques Guillard and Guillemyne Savary.

Second career

In 1520 Guillard married Claude Chevallon, a bookseller who also printed theological books. From this time forward, Guillard was known as "la Chevallonne". She was widowed a second time in 1537. One of Charlotte Guillard's personal printer's marks, which showed a publication had come from one of her studios. By the end of her career, Guillard's business grew to include a bookstore including books her husbands had passed down the rights for, as well as works she chose to acquire and print later on. Louis Lassere, La Vie de Monseigneur Sainct Hierosme (1541) (previously printed by Josse Badius ca. 1529) List of works printed by Charlotte Guillard (on Copac) Alexandri ab Alexandro iurisperiti Neapolitani genialium dierum libri sex, varia ac recondita eruditione referti (Paris: Carolam Guillard, 1539), from the Lisa Unger Baskin Collection at Duke University.